Attorney General Lynch to Remove Child Pornography Sites from the Internet

"I will focus on strengthening protections for our young people, with a particular concentration on increasing safeguards in relation to technology."

In his capacity as President of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch commended an unprecedented agreement between the nation's cable operators and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to remove child pornography sites from the Internet. In the pact they forged, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and NCMEC agreed to use NCMEC's database of web sites to identify those containing child pornography and to then allow any cable operator that owns or controls a server used by the site to shut it down.

"This agreement will give cable broadband providers an invaluable source of information to help them enforce their terms of service, all of which forbid the hosting of such illegal materials on their servers," Lynch said. "The information provided by NCMEC also will help providers identify instances of child pornography, facilitating their reporting of such material to NCMEC as required by federal law, which in turn permits NCMEC to refer these cases to law enforcement for investigation and prosecution."

"In recognition of the dangers our children face in the modern world, I have declared as my NAAG presidential initiative that this is The Year of the Child, and I will focus on strengthening protections for our young people, with a particular concentration on increasing safeguards in relation to technology," Lynch added.

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This agreement will limit the ability of predators to store and exchange images of exploitation of those who are among the more vulnerable in our society. It is a new and powerful tool to add to the arsenal of law enforcement agencies. NCTA's members, Internet Service Providers, provide service to more than 90 percent of cable broadband homes.

The Senate Judiciary Committee twice voted not to send the proposed law to the floor, making New Mexico one of only three states without a law requiring that consumers be notified in case of data breaches.